Destroying a Horcrux
by KingdomKey1121
Summary: Destroying the Hufflepuff Cup Horcrux, Ron's POV.


_**This is kind of like the opposite of my "In the Beginning" fanfic, which was the beginning of the first book, whereas this is the end of the last book.**_

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Ron watched as Harry and Luna hurried out of the room. He turned back to the rest of the people who were now staring at Hermione and him expectantly.

"Uh, give us a second, okay?" he said, grabbing Hermione by the arm and towing her away to a corner.

"What are we supposed to do?"

"I don't know, even if we find another Horcrux, how are we supposed to get rid of it? We don't have the sword and the cup is still intact," said Hermione, shaking the beaded bag. She bit her lip, looking stumped.

Ron thought. What else could destroy Horcruxes? Too bad Dumbledore never told them how he'd gotten rid of the ring…

Then it hit him. Harry had already destroyed one. Right here, in this school. He had stabbed it with a basilisk fang… surely the giant snake's corpse would still be lying in the Chamber…

"Hermione!" Ron said suddenly, making her jump. "A basilisk fang! We can use that! In the Chamber of Secrets!"

Her face lit up, enthused. Then it fell slightly.

"But, neither of us can speak Parseltongue, how are we going to get in?"

"Well, Harry did this," Ron mimicked the noise he thought Harry had made, "to open the locket so that I could stab it."

"You think that'll work?" she asked, desperate.

"We can try," Ron said determinedly. He turned back to the room at large; most of the crowd had started talking amongst themselves. He noticed Neville and Ginny, on the other hand, had been watching them avidly.

"Ginny, keep everyone here until Harry gets back, if you need us we'll be in the girl's bathroom on the second floor."

Grabbing one of the broomsticks propped against the wall and taking Hermione by the hand, Ron led the way out of Room of Requirement, leaving a bemused Ginny behind. Ever since he had walked out on his friends, Ron had been trying to make up for it. He had started consciously leading, but now it seemed so ingrained in his system that he couldn't ignore the urge. It exhilarated him.

If anything, though, he wanted to prove himself to Hermione.

They reached the door and, remembering what Neville had said about the entrance appearing anywhere, opened it cautiously. Ron poked his head out and peered around in the darkness for any landmarks that would tell him where they were. He finally spotted the statue of the humpbacked witch that he knew concealed a secret passageway to Honeyduke's Cellar in Hogsmeade. There was no doubt a Death Eater nearby, guarding the passage. Futhermore, he recognized the door behind which the three-headed dog Fluffy had once stood over a trapdoor that led to the Philosopher's Stone.

"We're on the third floor," he whispered to Hermione. She nodded.

"Okay, let's go." He started to go quietly out of the door but Hermione stopped him.

"Wait," she said, pulling out her wand. Standing on tiptoes, she reached up to tap the top of his head. From the wand tip a cold spread down his body. He looked down to find himself Disillusioned, see-through. Hermione did the same to herself. She vanished before his eyes.

"Okay, we need to get to Myrtle's bathroom, quickly," said Ron, slipping out the door. He felt Hermione following. Creeping the opposite direction of the one-eyed witch statue, Ron and Hermione made their way down the corridor. Luckily, they did not encounter any teachers. They made their way down the first set of stairs they came across to the second floor. This corridor, however, was not deserted. Professor Flitwick was pacing the hall, humming slightly to himself. He heard Hermione whimper faintly. Reaching back to where he thought she was, he caught her hand again and led her silently around Flitwick and to the door baring the sign: "OUT OF ORDER". Checking to make sure the little man was pacing back the other way, he pushed the door open and entered Moaning Myrtle's bathroom.

It looked exactly as it had been the last time they had been there, five years ago. They could hear Myrtle gurgling mournfully in her stall.

"Let's not bother her, all right?" Ron muttered, grinning slightly. Hermione tapped the top of his and her own head again. Ron now felt warmth spreading up his body and into Hermione's wand tip. Now that he could see her, Hermione gave him a slight encouraging smile.

Without further ado, he strode confidently over to the tap that was the entrance to the Chamber of Secrets. The small snake was engraved there, just as he remembered. He looked over at Hermione; she was gazing at him expectantly.

"Right," he said, clearing his throat. He stared at the small snake intently, as he had seen Harry do, and made the hissing sound again.

Nothing happened.

"Hmm," said Ron, putting down the broomstick he still held and rubbing his hands together. He screwed up his face in effort as he tried again, tightening his throat slightly. Again, nothing happened.

"Harder than it looks, I guess," he said.

"Try again," Hermione urged him on, engrossed.

Ron leaned toward the tiny snake, staring at it intently. For a moment, he forgot every else but the golden serpent. He tried once more, a strangled hissing noise escaped his throat and he knew that he had done it even before the tap glowed with a brilliant white light and began to spin. He backed up and Hermione took hold of his arm as the sink lowered out of sight, revealing the large pipe through which they would have to slide.

"That was brilliant, Ron," Hermione said in awe, staring wide-eyed at the pipe.

"See what you miss when you get yourself petrified?" He was so happy and elated by the successful mimicry of Parseltongue that he found it easy to joke.

"Okay, let's get down to business." He picked the broom back up and walked up the entrance.

"I'll go first, I'll call back up to you if it's safe," Ron told her.

"But Ron…" She was stopped by the look on his face.

"I'll go first," he repeated.

He lowered himself down into the pipe and after giving Hermione a reassuring look, pushed off and slid down. It was just as unpleasant as he remembered. He didn't go as fast this time though, now that he was fully-grown. He was going slowly enough that he didn't quite shoot out of the end like last time, but it was with an uncomfortable thump that he landed on the damp stone below. The floor, he saw, was still littered with half-decayed animals. He glanced around and saw nothing of immediate danger.

Scrambling to his feet, he picked his way to the man-sized pipe.

"Okay! You can come down!" he called. Then he got into a position to catch her and braced himself for impact. Soon, Hermione flew out of the pipe and into Ron's waiting arms, knocking him backward.

"Oh, sorry Ron," she said as she climbed off of him and reached down to help him up. Slightly winded, Ron stood and, depositing the broom near the pipe, led Hermione down the dark tunnel.

"_Lumos_," she said, lighting her wand.

Soon they came to the place where Gildory Lockhart's memory charm had backfired from Ron's broken wand and caused a cave-in. Ron had never gone farther than this. Buried underneath, Ron knew, was a giant snakeskin. They found the gap in the rocks that Ron had excavated to let Harry and Ginny back through. To his dismay the hole was far too little. They had been smaller at age twelve.

"Through here," Ron said, pointing out the gap to Hermione. She made quick work of it and used a hover charm to move more of the rock, careful not to cause another slide.

Once the hole was big enough, they clambered through it. They followed the tunnel around several turns and came to a solid wall decorated with more snakes.

"Parseltongue again?"

"Go on," Hermione said eagerly.

Focusing solely on the emerald glint in the eyes of the serpents, Ron made the ugly hissing sound exactly like before and the snakes parted, sliding into the walls on either side.

"You did it!" Hermione squeaked excitedly. Emboldened, Ron trudged on into the high-ceiling Chamber of Secrets. Stone serpents twisted themselves around each other on either side of the long room. Their footsteps echoed as they walked on. Everything was wet. At the end stood a giant statue of a very old wizard.

"Salazar Slytherin," Hermione said in wonder, gazing up at the monkeylike face reverently. Ron, meanwhile, had sighted the huge serpent's decaying body. He nudged Hermione and indicated it. She gasped and they moved closer to it.

The basilisk seemed to have deflated like a balloon. As they inched closer, a rancid smell hit them, and they raised their arms to their faces, pressing their sleeves into their noses.

"Lovely," said Ron.

The creature's mouth was agape, revealing a row of yellow, sharp teeth. They alone seemed to be the only things that weren't rotting. Ron reached down and picked up one that was discarded away from the mouth. With a jolt, he realized it must have been the one that had pierced Harry.

Eyeing the fang in his hand, Hermione opened the beaded bag and rummaged around, finally pulling out Hufflepuff's cup. She set it down on the ground.

"Okay, stab it," she told him.

Ron hesitated. He stared up at the cup for a moment, and making up his mind, offered the fang to Hermione.

"What are you doing?"

"I think you should do it."

"Why?"

"You haven't yet had the pleasure." Ron grinned, forcing the yellow object into her hand. "Go on."

Looking slightly perturbed and daunted, she set down the beaded bag. Gripping the fang tightly with both hands, she raised it over the cup. Gaze fixed on the cup, she bit her lip.

"Something wrong?" Ron asked, misreading her expression. She looked up and met Ron's eyes; there was a fierce determination there that in the past Ron associated with breaking school rules.

"Hold it steady," she commanded.

Ron took a hold of the cup and watched Hermione closely. Fang still held aloft, she took a deep breath. Finally, with a wild shriek, she plunged the fang straight down into the depths of the cup, cracking it in half. At the same moment, a horrible screaming echoed through the Chamber, just like the locket.

When the screams had subsided, Hermione straightened up, panting.

"Feels good, doesn't it?" said Ron knowingly.

"Very good," she agreed, smiling widely. "One more down!"

There was a long moment where they stood smilingly fondly at one another. Ron wanted very much to gather up Hermione in his arms and kiss her, but he didn't want to ruin the moment by foolishness. He turned back to the basilisk corpse and Hermione followed him, oblivious to his internal conflict.

Extracting the rest of the basilisk fangs was easier than Ron thought it'd be. The decayed gums gave away the teeth readily and soon they were both laden with as many as they could carry.

Euphoric at their success, they made their way back out of the Chamber and to the pipe.

Hermione looked up wearily.

"How are we going to get back up?"

Ron picked up the broomstick he'd left there.

"Oh, I'd forgotten!" said Hermione. "Ron, you're amazing, you really did think this through!"

"Climb on," he said, basking in her praise. He transferred the fangs into one arm so that he could grip the broomstick with the other. Hermione, straddling the broom right behind him, did the same, wrapping the free hand around Ron's torso.

"Hold on tight," he said, smirking, and kicked off from the ground.

The ascent was short and sweet. Soon, they had landed in Myrtle's bathroom. The entrance closed up behind them. Hermione gave him a gentle squeeze before dismounting.

"Where did you come from?" said a miserable voice beside them.

Moaning Myrtle was floating nearby, irritated that she was being disturbed. Not even the presence of her gloomy self could bring Ron and Hermione down, though. They stalked right past her and out into the third-floor corridor. Professor Flitwick was gone; the hall was deserted. There was a distant rumbling.

They headed for the grand staircase and saw a rather odd sight; what seemed like the entire school was climbing the stairs.

They spotted Colin Creevey amongst the mob. He was hardly recognizable; he had scars and bruises covering his face. Ron waved him down.

"Hey, Colin!"

"Ron? Hermione?" Colin looked excited. "Why aren't you with Harry?"

"We don't know where he is. What's going on?"

"He was just in the Great Hall. McGonagall's evacuating the castle. They're going through the Room of Requirement. People of age can stay though." At these last words, Colin looked putout.

Ron didn't notice this; he had started against the mob.

"Out of the way!" Ron shouted to the dumbstruck students ambling up the stairs.

Finally, they arrived at the ground floor where the battle had already begun. They spotted many of their former classmates hurrying past them, shooting spells out of windows. The castle quaked suddenly, throwing Ron and Hermione off balance.

They turned a corner and hurried along it, trying to find Harry. Suddenly, he hurtled around the corner ahead and, seeing them, yelled furiously.

"Where the _hell_ have you been?"

"Chamber of Secrets," Ron said calmly.

"Chamber—_what?_"

"It was Ron, all Ron's idea!" said Hermione breathlessly. It seemed like she had been bursting to say this. "Wasn't it absolutely brilliant? There we were, after you left, and I said to Ron, even if we find another one, how are we going to get rid of it? We still hadn't gotten rid of the cup! And then he thought of it! The basilisk!"

"What the—?"

"Something to get rid of the Horcruxes."

Harry's eyes drifted down to the fangs in their arms.

"But how did you get in there? You need to speak Parseltongue!"

"He did," said Hermione proudly. "Show him, Ron!"

Once more, Ron screwed up his face, tightened his thoat, and made the strange hissing sound.

"It's what you did to open the locket," he told Harry, apologetic. "I had to have a few goes to get it right, but," Ron shrugged, "we got there in the end."

"He was _amazing_!" said Hermione. "Amazing!"

"So…"

"So we're another Horcrux down." Ron pulled out the mangled remains of the cup and showed it to Harry. "Hermione stabbed it. Thought she should. She hasn't had the pleasure yet."

"Genius!" yelled Harry, caught up at last.

"It was nothing," Ron said, delighted to have done something so good for the team. "So what's new with you?"

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**_I'm thinking of just going to the end of the book, how does that sound? Thanks for reading, please review!_**


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